Chapter 11

First Treatment

"So … I just lay down on the bench?" the young Jedi boy asked dubiously.

"Precisely, Mister Arranda." Sane Fa was considered by outsiders to be a stereotypical sibling. He wasn't, by point of fact.

Kaminoans did not really have siblings in the same way that humans or other near-humans did, since they were all in effect grown in laboratories rather than through a natural gestation. But he and Loru Fa had formed a close friendship over the years. Though it was only platonic, the two of them were closer than any Kaminoan had been with any other Kaminoan since the days of dry land.

Sane Fa was a scientist, and vainly considered the yellow of his eyes the brightest and most radiant amongst those of his caste. Clearly, there could have been no other set like his, and there would surely be none after he passed on. He heard the whispers, the rumours—none of them derogatory in any sense.

It was said that the unique quality of his eyes was a sign that his genetics were far advanced for someone of his caste.

Indeed, he had been responsible for many breakthroughs in cloning procedures during the Clone War, and had found improved methods of sustaining the clones' health without compromising the need for the rapid aging they had all been programmed with. But near the end of the war, Sane Fa had grown tired of it. He was pleased that his people were making millions of credits from the Republic for the clones that were supplied for the war efforts, but he could no longer take joy in sending so many of his creations off to be destroyed in a war that was not of Kamino's making and which didn't inherently affect them.

So, instead, he had moved to another field: studying the humanoid mind. Taun We's notes had been more than helpful in getting him started. She herself had taken it upon herself to study the psychology of the clones during the war, even to the point of forming a … friendship of sorts with the only clone that had not undergone the advanced aging process, the one that was said to have been created as a favour to the template: a son. Sane Fa had never met the boy, and doubted that he would ever get the chance. He was no longer interested in the clones. If, by chance, there were any left out there, they would not last long due to the rapid aging. And if the bounty hunter's son was still alive … well, Sane Fa didn't see any reason he would return to Kamino.

From Taun We's notes, Sane Fa had been able to expand further into the human psyche and unlock more and more mysteries as well as patent and develop more and more ways to unlock those mysteries, those secrets, those things so deep and dark that even the subject was not aware of the existence of it.

"And then what?" the Jedi asked, tearing Sane Fa from his thoughts.

He picked up the apparatus on the table. It was an oval disc, barely a human thumbnail thick and spanning the length of Sane Fa's longest digit. The unit was spotless white, with a silver line etched into the apex points and crossing back and forth like a giant crack in the surface connecting the two points.

Sane Fa turned and watched the Jedi lay down on the table, and then he approached with long, graceful steps. Within two, he was bench-side and looking down unblinkingly into the young human's face.

"I will place this device in the middle of your chest. It will monitor your bodily signals." He gestured toward the young man's coverings, and after an awkward moment, the young man unbuttoned it and opened it enough for Sane Fa to gently place the oval disk perfectly centre of the sternum.

The boy gasped. "Cold," he hissed. Sane Fa ignored the platitude and turned to the bench-side table to retrieve the next set of devices. "What are those?" the human asked.

Had Sane Fa not heard the genuine interest in the human's tone, he might have given the simplest explanation, or simply not bothered. But, it seemed that Mister Zak Arranda was keenly interested in every facet of the procedure. Perhaps it was what humans referred to as a nervous desire to acquire knowledge.

"These are also monitoring devices," Sane Fa spoke evenly, and Loru Fa sidled up to the other side of the bench and looked down at the young Jedi as well, smiling—though it was doubtful the human noticed it. "They monitor the signals and electrical impulses within your brain. They are a fairly common medical device, but these ones have been modified specifically to interact with those signals. When the signals and impulses associated with memory begin to stir, these devices will amplify the memory and bring it toward your conscious mind."

"Would that also bring out memories I already have?" the Jedi asked carefully.

"No," Sane Fa said, shaking his head. "They specifically interact with suppressed or distant memory. There would be no point to using it to recover memory you already possess."

"Except for interrogation."

Sane Fa was actually alarmed by the implication. "We have no need to interrogate anyone. Kaminoans are not in the habit of committing a crime, and the crimes committed by outsiders are typically handled by your own governments."

Carefully, Sane Fa pressed one device each to the young Jedi's temples, and then gently tapped them to bring them online. A blue light flared from beneath each casing to signify that they were active. He pressed a third one to the centre of the young man's forehead, but refrained from activating it just yet.

"What about that?" the Jedi asked, nodding to the holoscreen perched via a jointed durasteel arm on a bench near the wall.

Sane Fa dismissed the screen with wave and tuned back to the boy. "In the event you were going to be conscious for the procedure, or if you had allowed another from your company to view your memories. It has not been hooked up to the monitoring devices, so the supervising technicians and myself will not be witnessing any of your memories."

"We respect the desire for individual privacy amongst our clients," Loru Fa clarified. Sane Fa nodded to her and she nodded back before gracing the young Jedi with another rare Kaminoan smile. "I must go and tend to … other matters," she said hesitantly.

Sane Fa almost cursed her aloud. She should be decisive with her speech. The Jedi were masters at reading the thoughts of others, and the last thing they needed was for any of them to discover the troubles they were having. It would not do for them to be sticking their proverbial noses where they were not welcomed, or where they did not belong.

Either the boy hadn't noticed Loru Fa's hesitancy or he had dismissed it, for he nodded.

"I assure you, Mister Arranda," she continued, "you are in very capable hands. I will return later to escort you to your quarters."

"Appreciated," the boy said with a grateful smile. "But if you have other matters to attend to, I'm sure I can find my way on my own."

Again, Sane Fa was alarmed, but did not show it. It also would not be wise for the younger Jedi to be wandering around on their own, lest they become lost and find themselves in places they ought not to be.

Loru Fa nodded again, both to the boy and to Sane Fa, and then left the lab.

After the doors sealed shut behind her, Sane Fa looked down at the diagnostic pad in his hand and commanded the device to analyse all the equipment and perform a last minute checklist for faults. In the meantime, he noticed that the young Jedi was wriggling slightly on the bench, trying to get into a comfortable position. It was … distracting, but Sane Fa refused to let the boy see that it affected him so.

The pad bleeped at him the all clear and he put handed it to a nearby aide who took it over to and deposited it on the bench against the wall.

"The equipment all checks out perfectly and we are ready to begin," Sane Fa said to the young Jedi. "Unless you have had a change of mind, of course."

The boy hesitated, frowning in thought as he, no doubt rapidly, considered something, and then he looked up and nodded. "I'm ready."

"Please," Sane Fa said, approaching and gesturing widely, "lay back. I apologise for the lack of comfort, but considering that you will not be conscious of it, there was no need to furbish it so."

"That's all right," the boy said. "I've slept on worse."

Sane Fa nodded. "Deral Nai, please administer the sedative to Mister Arranda."

The nearest of his colleagues—possessive of strange, amber eyes—approached them without a worse, and with an injector module in hand. The young Jedi visibly winced at the sight of the needle at the end of the module, but said not a word as Deral Nai pricked him with it and depressed the plunger, sending the sedative down through the thin tube and into the boy's system.

As the young man's eyes began to grow heavy over the next few seconds, Sane Fa leaned over him and gently tapped the third and final device on his head. "Pleasant memories, Mister Arranda," he said softly before standing straight again and turning away.